Is it true that aspirin can help acne?

Question

Ive heard that if you mix water with aspirin it can help acne. Is this true, and if so how do you make the paste and how long do you apply it? Thank you everybody!

Answer 1

Do not apply aspirin to the skin, it actually may cause more harm than good.

Aspirin when taken orally is converted by the liver into salicyclic acid. Aspirin is a different chemical than salicyclic acid. Aspirin when applied to the skin is ineffective for acne or for arthritis. For acne, use one of the many over-the-counter products containing salicylic acid for acne, either in a cream form or a wash. If they do not help, try a combination product with salicyclic acid and benzoyl peroxide.

Aspirin is the generic term for acetylsalicylic acid. Aspirin was originally a brand name. The brand name Aspirin was coined by the Bayer company of Germany. In some countries, such as the U.S., the name is used as a generic term for the drug rather than the manufacturer's trademark.

Thers's too much info on acne to post here. There are many sites on acne, I recommend you go to this one for more info: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/acne/DS00169

Hope this helps. Be well.

Rick the Pharmacist

More info:

I have answered many questions about acne before, the websites listed below have all the info you ever wanted to know about acne and how to treat it (and how not to treat it, for example, changing your diet has no effect).

The most common OTC products contain salicyclic acid or benzoyl peroxide (or both), usually as a wash. Give it time, if these don't help, see your family doctor.

Rx antibiotics are occassionally used (tetracycline family if over age 12 or erythromycin family). Rx Retin A (retinoic acid) cream or gel is also used. Rx Accutane (isotretinoin) is only rarely used and is reserved for severe cystic acne and is usually only prescribed by dermatologists.

Answer 2

I am 14 years old with moderate acne. And what I did was I took four coated tablets of aspirin and a spoonful of honey. I put the aspirin into a small tea bowl and filled a cup halfway with hot water, and then used a spoon to put a little bit of water onto the aspirin, enough to make the tablets melt. Then, I put a spoonful of honey in, a generous amount. I mixed the melted aspirin with the honey in the bowl, and then used a medium-sized makeup brush to apply the mixture to my face. I made sure there was honey and aspirin in every infected area, and then I left the mask on for forty minutes. After I washed my face, I was amazed. My hyper pigmentation (redness) had gone down a lot, and my skin seemed less shiny and it had a glow to it. Then next day, I noticed that my pimples had shrunk. I kept doing this every day, and it got better and better each time. Right now, I have fairly even skin, and, yes, I still do have acne, because teenage hormonal acne can't be forever eliminated by anything except the exit of the adolescence stage. But it's so much better. And I urge you to try it, because you will be so happy. On the first week, it might not do anything huge, but if you do it religiously, you should really start to see a difference. Hope this helps!

Answer 3

I've never heard about this before. Its possible that it could work because I think asprin is considered an "Anti-Inflamitory" and a pimple is an inflammed pore. I imagine to make it into a paste you would crush the asprin into a fine powder. Add water a little at a time until it becomes a paste. You don't want it to be too watery or else it won't stick to your face.

Because I have never done this before, I'm going to err on the side of caution and say only keep it on for about 5 minutes. I am only saying this because I don't know how sensitive your skin is, and how your skin might react to the chemicals in the asprin.

If you want to try this - let us know how it works because I've never heard about this. I did hear about toothpaste - but I DO NOT recommend that because it turned the pimple on my face into a blister and it looked much worse than the pimple and then my skin peeled and I ended up with a temporary red scar that took months to heal.

One CRAZY trick that actually worked, and I can not take credit for this - I got this idea from the movie "My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding" was I put a small dab of "Anti-Bactierial Windex" (The Green Windex - not the blue one) and to my surprise within about 2 hours the pimple was about 80% smaller!! To this day, I keep a bottle of it under my bathroom sink for emergencies. If you do choose to try the "Windex" method - use a q-tip and only a tiny dab to the pimple only. Do not put on a cotten ball and wipe your whole face - remember this is window cleaner - not an astringent. Another reason this probably worked is because it was the "Anti-bacterial" Windex which probably killed all the bacteria in the pimple.

Whatever you choose to do, be careful - I am not a dermotologist and I don't know how sensitive your skin is - I am only sharing with you my personal life experience. Good luck!

Answer 4

Yes, I've heard that too. Aspirin has salicylic acid in it, which is found in alot of acne products. The acid lightly exfoliates to open up pores. I don't know exactly how you make the paste, but I've heard it works. You can mix it with a mask (like Neutrogena Blackhead Eliminating Mask) to make it more effective. I would leave it on for 5-15 minutes, the average for any other mask.

Answer 5

I hadn't heard that one, but a nice safe remedy (unless you are allergic to honey) is effective. Dab a bit of honey on your zit, then a dab of vaseline. The honey breaks down to hydrogen peroxide when sterilizes the zit and the vaseline keeps more bacteria from getting in.

Do it before bed. Use an old pillow case on your pillow.
Leave it on all night. None of your friends will know unless you tell them.

Oh, and don't let the dog lick your face while you have it on. They like the honey.

Answer 6

If you never try then you never know.